Tag: influence

Posted in people

In the right place at the right time

Posted on by William Douthwaite

When I got done reading the biblical book of Esther a few months ago, I asked myself the question, “What people has God strategically put into my life?” Esther found herself in just the right place at just the right time to save her people. It wasn’t a coincidence. It was a God thing. Who else has been in the right place at the right time for me?

I’m stretching my memory here, but the first person that shows up on my radar is my eighth grade Algebra teacher, Mrs. Flaig. She was the first teacher who awakened my love for math and recognized my aptitude for that subject. She was tough but one of my favorite teachers ever. Mrs. Miller was like that, too. She taught my high school Algebra 2 and Calculus classes, always emphasizing “good mathematics!”

Then there are those who brought me along musically. Bonnie Strang taught me to play the trumpet in elementary through high school. My friend Gary Lefkowitz taught me to play guitar in college. An organist and choir director, Diane Allwein, let me play all kinds of sacred music on the trumpet at Luther Memorial Church in Tinton Falls, NJ, and gave me my first real experience in choral music. Rev. Richard Resch greatly expanded both my trumpet and choral music experiences while at the seminary.

A few pastors were in the right place at the right time, too. Pastor Don Sallach who told me at age thirteen, “You should think about being a pastor.” I never did, though, til I was twenty-six. Pastor Don Biggs in New Jersey who let me get very involved with music and youth work when I was new to the his church. Pastor Paul Harris, then a vicar in Austin, TX, who directed me towards seminary study. Pastor Dave Mulder, president of the New England District, ordained me and installed me at my first parish in Coventry, CT. He was a source of amazing encouragement in my first few years of ministry.

To this day, I still love math, music and ministry, no doubt because God had placed many of these people in my life “for such a time as this!”

Posted in Grace, Life, Ministry

People of influence

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Tomorrow, as the first part of a stewardship emphasis at our church, I’ll be talking about the influence we have in this world. My sermon is based on Matthew 5:13-16, where Jesus says we are the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world.”

One way to look at this is to see how influential Jesus says we are in this world, making as much difference as salt and light make when something is bland or dark. (If you’d prefer to think of salt as a preservative, that works, too. We make as much difference as salt and light when things are rotting and dark.) Anyway, I think we sometimes forget how influential we are as Christians. Feeling outnumbered by other faiths and atheists and agnostics, the temptation is retreat into our own worlds or let ourselves be influenced by others.

Whether we like it or not, God shakes us out of the saltshaker and puts us into the workplace, the marketplace, the schools, and our communities. There, whether we realize it or not, we bring some of Jesus with us. By that, I mean we bring what we’ve received from him, things like forgiveness, love, humility, patience, etc. And that is the stuff that salts, brightens, and changes the world. Wrap your mind (heart, soul, and strength) around that, and you might even do it intentionally, realizing what a difference God makes through you.

We are anything but ordinary, bland, and dull in this world. We’re salt and light.